The other point I would make is that the measures we took benefit workers. Cutting electricity bills by €200 benefits workers.

The €125 lump sum for fuel helps those on very low incomes. The threshold for the drugs payment scheme coming down to €80 benefits workers, particularly workers and families with high medical bills. Capping school transport charges helps workers. Those are measures we took. The 20% reduction in public transport fares helps workers, particularly those getting the bus or train to work. It helps them if we can reduce their everyday expenses. I accept that it will not deal with the entirety of it because this is a worl…

Actually, it has worked far better than the model the Deputy is proposing. Investment would flee the country; there is no question about that.

Actually, there is almost full employment at the moment.

There are nearly 2.5 million people working in this country.

Those are workers who are working because of a model that has involved foreign direct investment coming into the country over the last 50 years. That is something the Deputy opposes deep down.

The Deputy has no time for it. It employs thousands and thousands of people and he tells me he is on the side of workers.

He wants to destroy the economic model to get elected and he would use every mechanism to do that. That is the raison d'être of how he operates. That is fair enough in one sense but people need to know it.

First, I thank Deputy Naughten for raising this very important issue. I also thank the Deputy for the research that he has commissioned. It is an interesting analysis, maybe I would suggest a preliminary analysis, in respect of long Covid that certainly will be part and parcel of the health service for quite some time to come and will be a significant challenge for clinicians for some time to come. It needs to be monitored. Steps are being taken also, from a research perspective, to analyse and monitor this rigorou…

We do need reform. In the progress report on Sláintecare that will be released later today, we can see all of the work in terms of more and more primary care centres opening, GP chronic disease management improving all the time and GP access to diagnostics. Some 135,000 radiology tests were delivered in the community in 2021. There is now national coverage of community intervention teams. Approximately 18.7 million hours of home supports were delivered in 2021. That is helping more than 5,521 people who are receivi…

The Minister met the team in Roscommon on the issue the Deputy referenced earlier. The point I am making is that I have heard nothing but positives about the manner in which the reconfiguration of Roscommon hospital has happened, as opposed to people just chasing the latest electoral stunt.

It has happened for more than 30 years.

I am just saying it should inform debates as well across the country in other locations.

A lot can happen.

There are important statements this week, first, on the commission on defence and, second, on the retrofitting initiative. I thought Members would have welcomed the opportunity to speak on those. The Opposition has three Private Members’ opportunities.

The Opposition benefits from that as well. In previous times, there was only ever one Private Members’ opportunity so there are more opportunities in this Dáil and the last then there was historically in the House. There was a debate on legacy the week before last and we are committed to doing one on the ombudsman's report. In terms of the citizens' assembly, that is being prioritised for next Tuesday now.

There was some technical issue around the wording. I will come back to the Deputies on that. I am anxious to get it done as quickly as possible and it will be prioritised for next Tuesday. In terms of mink farming, I think it is the right policy. The mink is foreign to our biodiversity in many respects. As to fair compensation, the Minister has met with the farmers concerned. There was a lot of disquiet about the fact mink farming was going on in the country and it raised a lot of concerns. From a policy perspectiv…

I dealt with that on Leaders’ Questions. Generally, the Government view is that we want to create space for legislation and for the legislative functions of the Dáil in addition to just statements all of the time.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. HIQA advised the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, in December 2021 that the chief inspector had concerns about the ongoing governance of social care in community healthcare organisation, CHO, 1 and about a recent very serious adult and child safeguarding concern. The chief inspector of social services has instigated a regulatory programme requiring the HSE to take action to improve the quality of life for residents and regulator…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Sláintecare identified in priority terms that Cork, Dublin and Galway would have elective facilities. That was some years ago. It has taken a bit too long to develop these projects so I have told the Minister and the HSE I want these elective facilities developed. The most effective way to deliver them is on State-owned land, getting the design done and getting them delivered. That is happening in Cork and Galway has been identified. There is a bit more work needed in Dubli…